Rain
by Xinette
Summary: He always came to see her in the rain. ItaSaku, non-massacre AU.


**Yeah, so I know I said I don't really ship ItaSaku, but, well, you'll see. :) This is kind of an older story for me, so a warning for vagueness. It's about something, though.**

 **And, because you only get to say this once: first fic! plz R &r but no flamerz. **

"Rain"

She would always sit there, in her bedroom, on the floor, listening to the gentle tapping of the rain against the windows, and wait.

And he would arrive, a shadow in the window pane, before opening the window and entering.

She'd lost count of how many times he'd visited her, completely forgotten the first time. It was just a fact of her life. He came to visit her in the rain and wanted to talk.

And talk they did.

It was always about the strangest things. Strangest because it was so nondescript.

"What do you make of that new law?"

"What interesting weather we have been having,"

"Did you see the Yamanaka flower shop being renovated?"

He'd only tell her about things that she already knew, that everyone already knew. It was a conversation that could have taken place anywhere, in a market between two strangers or on a road between two old friends.

But, despite the fact he never gave her any personal information, she figured out who he was. She had his face, after all, and in those days, faces were a step away from names.

Itachi Uchiha.

She'd smiled when she's realized this. The man that came to visit her fit the description of Itachi she'd always heard: polite, quiet, and cold.

He didn't visit her every time it rained. On those nights where she didn't see him, she'd just sit there, staring at the window, waiting, wondering if she should go to bed, or if she'd miss him.

Then there were the clear nights. She knew he'd never visit her on those nights, but she couldn't shake the loneliness from not seeing him.

Only once did she see him outside of those visits. She'd been walking somewhere with her mother, and he'd been standing about a block away, dressed in dark blue with a fan on his back, talking to some important-looking people. She hadn't said anything to him, just continued on her way.

She knew their arrangement was a secret. She'd inferred this long before he told her one night, "Don't tell anyone that I've been seeing you."

That must have been after she'd figured out who he was, and after he'd figured out that she knew. Not like any of that was particularly surprising.

"Of course," she'd responded, "I wouldn't want to deal with your family."

"And I don't want to deal with yours, either," he'd said.

That was the only time they'd discussed their arrangement before it ended.

"Look," he'd said to her, one night when it was really coming down, "I can't do this anymore."

"Why?" she'd asked, like a schoolgirl.

"There is no 'why.' I just can't do it anymore," he answered. Then, on second thought, he'd added, "why don't you sneak out, tomorrow night?"

She'd blinked. She wasn't the kind of girl to sneak out past curfew, especially to meet a boy.

"I have to go," he said.

She nodded. She'd given up on getting him to stay years ago. The answer to things like that was always "no." Would you like some tea? "No." Some food? "No." Stay thirty minutes longer? "No."

But she trusted him, so she snuck out. He hadn't told her where, but she figured that was probably for the best.

So, instead of trying to meet up with him—he'd told her it was over, after all—she took the opportunity to see what all of her favorite places looked like at night.

The lake's water looked black instead of green. The cherry tree's leaves looked like shadows. The shop was dark, and it was impossible to make out any of the flowers.

The night didn't look that different from the day, she concluded. But the colors were missing.

It was mostly a clear night. So, it seemed strangely fitting that when raindrops started to fall, she was heading back home.

After all, she didn't know what time it was, but it seemed like they would be done with her house. Besides, she'd left some things there that she actually had to have.

Unsurprisingly, the curfew guards caught her on her way back to her house. It was better than them catching her on her way out, but it was far from preferable. Especially because she'd clearly been out for hours.

"Name?" one of the guards asked her.

"Sakura Haruno," she replied.

"And where are you going, Haruno-san?" another one asked.

"Back home," both a right answer and a truth.

"And do you know the time, Haruno-san?" the first one asked.

She shook her head. It was true, after all.

"But, as you can see, the sun is down," the second guard said.

She nodded.

"And you are aware that the curfew starts at sunset and goes through sunrise?" the first one continued.

She nodded.

"Come with us," the second one said, grapping her arm.

"You're lucky this is your first infraction, Haruno-san," the first one said.

She wondered briefly how they knew that. She supposed they had the criminal records memorized. The sharingan helped with that, after all.

They dropped her off right at her front door and waited for her to go in.

She had no idea how thankful she could be when she saw her mother standing there, scowling.

"Sneaking out! Sakura, _what were you thinking!_ " her mother said.

She just smiled.

"You're lucky you're from one of the civilian families. Do you have any idea what _could_ have happened to you?" her mother said.

She nodded and started feeling tears coming. She walked to the stairs.

"Sakura, I worry. You know I worry," her mother said.

She nodded and headed to bed.

The next night, he came to see her. Thankfully, it was raining again.

"Why did you tell me to sneak out?" she asked. She knew she wasn't going to get an answer.

"Sakura, I just want the best for you," he replied.

"So? I almost got caught. Well, I actually did get caught; I just didn't get punished,"

"I know," he said. Of course he knew.

"So, then, why …"

"I'm sorry. I had the date wrong. I need you to sneak out again tonight,"

Really? She scoffed. But, maybe she could get him to answer a few more things: "To where?"

"To … wherever. And don't come back here,"

"And what do I do if I get caught?"

"Don't,"

"But—"

"Tell them you're Temari, from Suna. Don't come back here,"

She wanted to ask why, but she already knew the answer. And it wouldn't do her any good to hear it aloud. "OK," she said.

He leaned forward and kissed her for the first time. Then, without saying anything more, he left.

And she followed his instructions.

But she couldn't get caught. It wasn't that she doubted his plan, but a lot could go wrong with it. What if they recognized her? Or knew Temari from Suna? Where did she live? What if she had to take them there?

So, she got as far away from Konoha as possible. She'd already packed everything she needed from her house, and took the opportunity to go into the forest. The guards didn't patrol nearly as frequently there, and there were more hiding places, though it's not like she could hide from them.

The forest was darker than she expected. The city was dark too, especially because everyone's lights were off and the buildings blocked out the moon, but the forest seemed darker. Maybe that was because she wasn't used to it, and knowing the city in the daytime was close to knowing it at night, even if everything looked different. She had almost no experience in the forest.

Once she was far enough away from the city, she sat down at the base of a tree and waited, listening to the forest.

There were crickets and cicadas, which she could only tell the difference from listening so many nights before. There were birdsongs and wind in the leaves. And there were footsteps.

She listened as they came closer and then went farther away. And came closer and went farther away. All night, people—probably the guards—came and went. None of them saw her or confronted her.

Until the morning, when she heard a different set of footsteps. They were soft, quiet, probably walking with softer sandals than the guards. And they just came closer and closer to her.

She opened her eyes to see a young man standing in front of her. The sun was just rising, shining light through the trees. She recalled vague memories of a blue-haired boy.

"Who are you," he asked. It wasn't a question, but there wasn't anything unfriendly in it.

"Sakura Haruno,"

"And what are you doing out here,"

She studied him. He had the same eyes as his brother. But his face was different, and his hair was different and his tone was different and almost everything about him was different.

She knew why he was out there. And she figured it would be safest to tell the truth, "they arrested my family."

He nodded, offering her a hand.

She stood up, saying, "I knew your brother,"

"How?"

She didn't know how to describe their little encounters, so she shrugged. He nodded again. The two of them stared off into the sunrise.

The sky was clear.


End file.
